1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a transmission indicator for a vehicle, which is provided on a side of a gearshift lever of a vehicle, thus indicating to a user the current position of a transmission.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, a transmission indicator is provided on a cluster gate or a console upper cover in a vehicle to indicate the current position of the transmission of the vehicle. A driver can see the current position of the transmission through the transmission indicator. An automatic transmission is generally indicated in “P” (park), “R” (reverse), “N” (neutral), “D” (drive), “+” (stage up), and “−” (stage down). The transmission indicator is configured so that the above characters emit light.
Particularly in the daytime, even if the characters of the transmission indicator do not emit light, a driver can easily recognize the current position of the transmission based on the position of a gearshift lever as long as the gearshift lever is arranged to be parallel to a selected stage character. However, at night, the characters of P, R, N, D, +, and −emit light to allow a driver to distinguish the current position of the transmission. Furthermore, a stage selection part is provided to indicate the current gear position, and emits light, thus affording convenience to a driver.
Therefore, vehicle manufacturers should install light emitting parts at a stage character part and the stage selection part so as to make both the stage character part and the stage selection part emit light, thus making it more complicated to manufacture the transmission indicator. Of course, the stage selection part may be included in the transmission indicator or may be provided separately from the transmission indicator. According to a conventional indicator shown in the drawings, the stage selection part is included in the transmission indicator, so that the stage character part and the stage selection part are placed together on the transmission indicator.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional transmission indicator for a vehicle, and FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a PCB of the transmission indicator for the vehicle shown in FIG. 1.
As shown in the drawings, the conventional transmission indicator for the vehicle includes a cover 10 and a stage character part 20 which is marked on the cover 10 and includes stage characters P, R, N, D, +, and −. The stage character part 20 always emits light during day and night, and a selected stage emits light with a different color to allow a user to distinguish the selected stage of the transmission during day and night. To this end, as shown in FIG. 2, the PCB circuit 30 is configured so that each stage character has two light emitting parts 41a and 41b, 42a and 42b, 43a and 43b, 44a and 44b, 45a and 45b, or 46a and 46b. The reason why such a configuration is required is because six light emitting parts for indicating the stage characters and six light emitting parts having different colors for indicating stage selection displays corresponding to the respective stage characters are needed.
That is, the conventional transmission indicator for the vehicle is problematic in that at least two light emitting parts are needed per stage character, so that light emitting parts 12 are required as for the embodiment shown in the drawings, and thus manufacturing costs are increased and the excessive volume of the PCB imposes restrictions on design. According to the recent trends in design, the size of the transmission indicator is minimized, so that the remaining space is utilized as a cup holder or storage space. Thus, in order to attain the positional perceptibility of the transmission when the size of the transmission indicator for the vehicle is minimized, distinguishable light emitting parts are needed for respective stages. However, in order to afford designing freedom, the number of light emitting parts must be reduced and the PCB must be simplified.
Further, the conventional transmission indicator is generally configured so that the cover and the stage characters of the stage character part are separately manufactured, and the stage character part is assembled with the cover by fitting. In this case, water passes through a gap between the cover and the stage character part, so the PCB circuit in the transmission indicator may be damaged. Further, in the case of separately manufacturing the stage selection part, both the stage character part and the stage selection part are present in the cover of the transmission indicator, and design is thus complicated.
It is to be understood that the foregoing description merely aids in understanding the present invention, and does not mean that the present invention falls under the purview of the related art which was already known to those skilled in the art.
The information disclosed in this Background of the Invention section is only for enhancement of understanding of the general background of the invention and should not be taken as an acknowledgement or any form of suggestion that this information forms the prior art already known to a person skilled in the art.